Now presenting: Michelle Obama's closet
Most of us figure the Smithsonian will never exhibit our clothes. It鈥檚 not as if it鈥檚 putting on a show called 鈥淪weat Pants of the Middle Class: A Retrospective.鈥�
But things are different if you are Michelle Obama. There she was March 9, watching as the Museum of American History unveiled a display featuring one of her dresses.
It was her inaugural gown, that white one-shouldered swoosh by designer Jason Wu. You鈥檇 figure that by now she鈥檚 used to being a celebrity. But she said she was a little embarrassed, and, truth be told, she looked it.
鈥淚鈥檓 not used to people wanting to put things I鈥檝e worn on display,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll of this is a little odd, so forgive me.鈥�
IN PICTURES: Michelle Obama's fashion
Many first ladies have found the role of national fashion icon to be both exhilarating and a pain in the bodice. One moment barely anyone (definitely not Joan Rivers) is looking. Then 鈥� whammo! 鈥� suddenly you鈥檙e in the White House, and your outfits are a subject of fascination.
And you can鈥檛 win for losing. You鈥檙e too glamorous (Washington is not Hollywood!) or not glamorous enough (Washington is not Dubuque!). Thus Nancy Reagan, a former actress who knew how to dress elegantly, got in trouble for taking fancy duds from her old pals. Rosalynn Carter took flak for wearing a previously used outfit to Jimmy鈥檚 1977 inaugural.
Mrs. Carter wasn鈥檛 being cheap. She鈥檇 worn the sleeveless embroidered coat over a blue dress to her husband鈥檚 first swearing-in as governor of Georgia, and she wore it again for sentimental reasons.
Maybe Edith Roosevelt, Teddy鈥檚 second wife, handled the pressure best. Weary of reporters asking for details about her clothes, she deputized her stepdaughter, Alice, to describe the dresses to the press.
Alice knew her stepmom wore only a few outfits. But she described each one differently each time it was worn, calling it 鈥渟ky blue鈥� one time and 鈥減eriwinkle blue鈥� the next 鈥� so that the media thought Edith had a much more impressive wardrobe than she really did.
Reporters. They鈥檙e so gullible.
